Tuesday, April 30, 2013

..............and a little bit of that......Its been HOT here....so not ready for summer......really i wouldn't mind skipping over summer entirely....since thats not likely to happen i guess i better just deal with it.....lol......I just can't see turning on the aircond so early in the season.....how could i possibly be so lucky to have moved from one desert (West TX) to another(Central Valley , Ca)...geesh......Someday i will not live in a desert.....this i swear.....Washington state is looking pretty good right now....

Anyway.......my bouquet of flower postcards are winging their way across the nation!And you'll notice another little postcard tucked in there. I participated in a Postcard swap held by June over there at A Creative Dreamer...you'll find her on my blogroll.

Have you ever been here? LUSH is a bath and beauty store where every thing is handmade and animal cruelty free....they have amazing stuff! Have you ever used a bath bomb?? I haven't but they sound soooo coooolll....I've always wanted to try one and now i have a new bathtub in my new house that i have yet to use....and this Dragon Egg bath bomb gives me the perfect excuse...Let me tell you what it does...(squeal!!!) Its a Mystical Sherbet Bomb..sure to cast a mesmerizing spell over your bathtub with its spectacularly stripy light show of colors , crackles and glitters...saleslady said its like pop rocks going off.......LOL!

........and for those of you who wanted to see my pin collection i laid them out and took a pic. You probably can't read them all but i'm getting quite the collection.....Honestly i'd love to wear them....I was thinking of some kind of hiking vest made out of blue jean or even a jean jacket...i don't know but i think they would be a great conversation piece when meeting other hikers....travelers....Well i need to go cook my hubby some fake eggs to go with his fake sausage and 1% milk in the morning for breakfast.... I've put paint on the canvas...and......so far so good....not much to show yet but i'll snap a pick if i can get some good lighting.......Hugs!deb

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

............and time consuming!.....Whew ...this took me a little while....but i do like how it turned out....Oh i have a couple little issues with it....bottom left...thats a sunflower garden.....I do not like how bright green the grass is....I tried and tried to darken it but when the paper is saturated well its saturated.... I was trying to mute the colors somewhat because the of the brown and gray in the rest of the piece....Now........what you don't know is this piece is just practice....My hubby really likes this piece only......ONLY....he wants it larger....this about an 8x10 and AND he wants it painted! So ...somehow i'm going to translate this to canvas.......Wish me luck....trust me i'll share this fiasco in the making. :) Hugs! deb

Monday, April 22, 2013

..........between us and Point Reyes.....but we HAD to stop and smell the flowers and take in the views.... I think these are Lupines and smell as good as they look.......

Then we saw a spot to pullover and enjoy these Harbor Seals and their pups.....I hope you can enlarge these pics...thats a pup splashing in the water there.......

...........we finally arrive at the park and after a quick stop at a very nice visitor center to get trail maps and me my pin. (you should see my collection!) We pull over at the trail head for Coast Trail and look who was enjoying an orange! Now for my long time followers..ahem....do you remember our lesson about Crows and Ravens and how to tell the difference???Hmmmmm??? lol! Come on give us a guess.........take in some of characteristics you can tell by this photo....this is out in the country.....look at the beak....he was alone........lol ...anyway drop me guess if you like..... :)

.............Coast Trail held a few surprises for us!!! As in TWO snakes! Lying right on the path sunning themselves , not concerned with us at all.........Some kind of Garter Snake or Grass Snake not sure exactly...but not poisonous.... and OFCOURSE hubby had to touch it!!

Coast Trail was recommended by the ranger at the visitor center. The picture above is looking to the left as you come out of the trail AND..........

............this is looking to the right.....WHAM!!! 30mph winds...yes that is blowing sand....We had to go this direction to get to the next planned trail head . Wow! That was so not fun! Note to Self...pay attention to the weather next time......whew! Made it though....

..............had to hunt around a little bit for the Muddy Bottom Trail but we found it........new spring growth was showing up everywhere... little purple irises littered the ground.....

...........we had quite the merry argument about whether these were rocks or Elk......He would look thru his camera and say Elk but after 20 minutes of standing and talking to another couple out hiking we looked back up there again and i 'couldn't help' pointing out that they hadn't moved and that i thought they were rocks....heh..heh...sometimes i just like to get his goat..er..elk..lol...

..............I thought this weed had the coolest leaf on it........round! don't see that often.......ofcourse i have no idea what it is..do you? Point Reyes has over 150 miles of trails....a herd of 400+ Tule Elk....its great for whale watching and bird watching and Seals....tide pooling....It has a Lighthouse........We only scratched the surface with our visit. No Entry Fee......Really worth a visit if your in the area...OH! And don't forget those little detours and 'obstacles' that can get in your way....lol....give yourself plenty of time........Thanks for coming along..........Now back to our regularly schedules program... Hugs! deb

Saturday, April 20, 2013

...........my travel posts do not see much action.........Not many visits or comments and i can't help but wonder if i'm doing something wrong.......but i love to show you the places i've been the things i've seen here in CA. So if you'd like to enlighten me what it is you don't like about my travel reporting...please do tell me. :)

NOW....just look at this nasty thing! This is still at Muir Beach....First we saw one then we saw them EVERYWHERE!

..............Can you guess what it is??? The next picture i'm going to give you a little hint.......But before you look what do you think it is?? They came in a couple different colors but this green was like EEEewwww!

..........I thought i knew what it was but where were all the little fingers??? So i gently pulled back the edge and a HA!!

...........then we found some under water in a little tide pool and NOW i bet you know what they are!

A sea anemone!! Such a beautiful shade of purple and green...The green almost glowed. I could run my finger across it and it would move.....Fascinating! Did you know what it was at the beginning?? Hang in there....I'm going to give you a quick tour of Point Reyes in a few days then we are back to art! Hugs!! deb

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

............becomes the best part of the journey.....Early Saturday morning we took off on a trip to Point Reyes National Seashore. Well let me tell you GETTING THERE was half the fun. :) It began with forgetting our maps at home and the fact that the map system on hubby's phone is not that reliable....shoot the whole phone is not that reliable..... :) So after wandering lost in San Francisco for awhile we finally find our way out and headed in the right direction....when we come across the sign for Muir Beach.. If you've been reading this blog for awhile you know we have made a few trips to Muir Woods but this is a first for the beach.....Hubby asked if i wanted to stop and i told him OFCOURSE.....remember its about the journey not the destination! Yes, have pity on him i really do say tacky things like that...lol...... So thats Muir Beach in the photo up above. Isn't it lovely?Mussels clung to every available surface.

I'am totally in LOVE with the rugged beaches here in Northern CA. They are so full of life.....And although i have been to many beaches in my life (FLA and TX) i find its these CA beaches that have my heart.....This may seem like small potatoes to anyone who has experienced these type of beaches all their life but i have NEVER seen a starfish in its environment before. It was AMAZING. I've seen them on TV....in Aquariums and dead in the craft stores but never like this!

..........and once you see one you start seeing MORE! Oranges and Purples...amazing!

We touched it! Yes .. i KNOW....but we did...it was bumpy and stiff

and cold....they were clinging for dear life to the rocks. The tide was on its way in so we did not hang around too long. We spied this little guy below.......

.........He was tucked in a hole until we coaxed (annoyed) him enough to come out and play.....no fingers were lost in the process....I have one more thing to show you from Muir Beach but it is so incredibly cool (at least in my book) that it deserves a post all its own! ***Thank you for all the kind words on hubby's bookshelf. I let him read them and it made him smile! Thank you thank you thank you!!! Hugs! deb

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

..........so i'am going to spend the day hunkering down inside and drafting a few posts, playing in the craft room and just generally finding reasons to NOT go outside! 40mph wind gusts!

I've been dying to show you my new bookshelf!! Hubby designed it and put it together and after a little sanding this week we will stain it together.......He built it , with it lying down and when we stood it up the sheer size of it took my breath away.......

.........and if you can believe this, this is only the first section...there will be three sections total .....each one with a different configuration of shelves. .....It will fill an entire wall in the vaulted ceiling part of our house.....It will take me a lifetime to fill it with books.....and trinkets.....All the edges will be trimmed with this leaf pattern and the stain we will use is Pecan, probably two coats.......I'll be sure to show you the finished piece in a few weeks......Hubs and i took a wonderful trip this past weekend. I have so many excellent pictures i want to show you it may take a couple posts......stay tuned! Hugs! deb

Friday, April 12, 2013

..............Last purple flower and now onto orange....the LAST color...whew! You know spring is gonna turn into summer before i get these in the mail......lol......I need to start creating things for Spring in Winter and Summer in Spring and so on...My projects always take longer than i think they will, they seem to take on a life of their own......probably cause i'm the World's Worst Procrastinator.......Some days i swear i should have that tattooed somewhere..........

I thought ....just maybe.......you might like to see some more of the house.........I keep finding homes for some of my Texas Treasures that i thought worthy enough to drag all the way from TX. You never know what direction your life is gonna take and come to find out alot of the stuff we brought we probably should have left behind......like a rototiller.......duh......postage stamp yard.......stove.......duh.....house came with one.......frig.....oh no, no NO! My frig is AWESOME....one day i WILL tell you the story of the frig but for right now meet my porthole! LOL! We found this at an Auction in TX. There were two but i only wanted one at the time now i wish i had bought two....sigh......I think it goes perfectly with my beachy bathroom.....The bottles of sand i collect from all the beaches i've been to.....The seashell plant hanger was from an auction too.......I still can't decide if its tacky or adorable either way its speaks Beach!

I hope your able to enlarge this photo.....The painting was done by my mother in law back in the 80's and i have loved it from the moment i laid eyes on it. It is best viewed from a distance.....I'm not sure why that is......Its like up close you can see what might be considered by some imperfections but when you step back and take in the whole picture it just comes alive. I love her play on light thru the trees. Its done in oil. The black metal tree above it is a recent purchase from Hobby Lobby. One of my desires in the house is to not shy away from the vaulted ceilings but to embrace them....So my decorating is going to go up, up , up.......lol That little space below the picture is going to have the first letter of our last name covered in moss......stay tuned...

..........I know you've seen this picture before.......My Luna Moth....Zazzle where i have alot of my artwork was giving its members free posters!! Big posters! So i said heck yeah all i had to do was pay shipping....This is about a$15 poster on their website..... Here it is in poster frame and i bought the frame too large.....&^##%^!!*^%%***!!! So now i have to buy a matte for it before i hang it but i wanted to show you. It is soooo cool seeing my art blown up this large . Wow! You don't wanna know where i'm gonna hang it.......sigh .....but i'll tell you anyway...... Hubby says...Your first piece of artwork hanging on our walls and your gonna put it in the bathroom??!! LOL! Hugs! deb

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

...........alot of things go into making a house a home.......and really just our love for each other goes a long way to making a house a home. But other things are creeping in too......Our family portraits are on the wall..................

.............the smell of supper cooking when hubby walks thru the front door after the horrendous commute....Me ...knee deep in projects in my craft room..........hubby working on a project in his garage (I'll show you soon).......Just life.....life goes on ...life finds a way.........and then.....

.........we found this brave lady.......she is so tiny......I don't think i've ever seen such a tiny bird that was not a hummingbird....but as you can see she took up residence right by our walkway...and she really is so brave......I can mill around out there watering my plants and pulling a few weeds...carry in groceries and she does not flinch. The other day we had a chance to peek in her nest with her gone as it is at eye level and she has one teeny tiny egg in there. Hubby came home one day a week or so ago and pointed the nest out to me. I hadn't even noticed it and he said 'Now our house is a home.......What makes your house a home? Hugs! deb

Friday, April 5, 2013

..............AND yet another flower......I had some adhesive letters left over ages ago from another project and finally found something to do with them....Stuck them on and continued painting....They came off nicely and i used some metallic paint and a fine brush and traced around them to make them a little more visible ...TWO flowers left....both orange......I think i'm going to go a little doodle crazy with these last two and see what i can come up with...... :)Olympus Has Fallen ...Movie Review.......Hubby and i both enjoyed this one......It has the benefit of some very good actors in it....I'm terrible at names though so bear with me.......We like Aaron Eckhart.....he is a rather well known actor now but we first saw him in some obscure movie that i don't even think made it to the movie theater .'Sound of Thunder' . I definitely recommend that movie if you like time travel and evolution and such.....Anyway he made a great President...Morgan Freeman IMHO has always played the presidential role well and many times while watching movies hubby and i have said albeit jokingly(as he is only acting lol) We would vote for that man! In Olympus Has Fallen he get another chance to step into the presidential role..... Gerard Butler is amazing as the Hero....Love LOVE his Irish/Scottish?? brogue which was for the most part sadly missing in this movie. He was handsome and believable in his role for single-handedly saving the white house ...well what was left of it that is.....As well acted as this movie was it was a little disturbing too...lets hope its not that easy to take over the white house...... :) Hubby and i both give this movie two thumbs up...Go..... See it!!! Rhapsody.......Book Series by Elizabeth Haydon......I'm rereading this series so i thought i'd mention it....I read quite a bit....alot of it fantasy and science fiction and i first read this series quite a while ago probably 2000/2001....and lots of books have followed in its wake but it is still one of the most innovative, original books i have ever read....Her imagination blows me away......There are 6 books in the series and i 'am sad to say that she has not finished the series. The last book The Assassin King came out in 2006 and not a peep since then.....There is much speculation as to why she has apparently abandoned the series......In the intervening years she has started a children's series.......She left her characters in quite a tight spot..perhaps she doesn't know how to finish it.....Whatever the reason its sad it does not have a conclusion but as you can see i still find it amazing enough to reread anyway........Its getting to be a long post here and i haven't even told you what the series is about....lol...Well you have the name and the author ...if i've peaked your interest at all take a minute and look it up......It does not disappoint......Hugs! deb

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

...............for not having my flower postcards done yet..........I've been distracted..............by yet another door.............Something about doorways intrigues me........maybe its the possibilities......of what could be on the other side.......the mystery........

........no matter what it is I see doors being an integral part of my art.....and something i should just stop resisting.....the possibilities are endless and yes one day i'm sure i will move on from the round door....lol......what can i say i 'am and shall always be a Hobbit geek.... :) If i won the Lottery and designed my own home i PROMISE you i would have a round door somewhere!

..............so what about this door??? Would you step through??? What would YOUR door look like? What would be on the other side waiting for you? Would you knock first?? :) Hugs! deb

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

........well maybe this flower is...on fire that is.........Didn't it turn out pretty? A little metallic gold in there too ......Can you see it? I LOVE this one! Well thats two blue and two red....now its on to purple. Not much shading on this flower....just a little in the center. And thats really what i'm suppose to be learning in this 'exercise' ....so i'm going to give it another go with the purple.....stay tuned....We had rain here over the weekend and even THUNDER! I KNOW i'm still in shock. I'd pretty much given up on the 'rainy'season ......The lavender the landscapers picked for my front yard is blooming so pretty. I'm not a fan of their landscaping picks but i must say the lavender has won me over....i may have to buy more.....and switch out some of the less attractive plants.....Oh! And we have a new tenant....if i can be clever (read lucky) enough to get a photo...i'll introduce you......Hubby says because of the guest our house is now a home............Hugs! deb

About Me

I'm a 49yr old woman learning that its okay to just be me. That i'm alright in every sense of the word. That i can own many of the labels that are applied to me like.....shy, quiet, loner, weird, strange, odd, different, and i can accept them and embrace them as being a part of me. They are not something i need to fix. I'am learning to just breathe and this is my journey.